#4 Penn State Nittany Lions |
#2 in Big Ten |
I thought all James Franklin did in his Joe Moorhead hire was delay the inevitable, and without him, he was headed right back to where the Nittany Lions were prior to Moorehead’s hiring. Franklin may never be an A+ gameday coach, but he seems to be more than just an ace recruiter, he’s proving he can be a strong program CEO as well. The Nittany Lions gave Ohio State everything they could handle in Columbus, and now, getting them at home, ensuring that the Big Ten East title goes through Happy Valley. To prove that Franklin isn’t just a big time recruiter, this could be his best offense yet, and that’s with his highest rated running back recruit (Ricky Slade) and highest rated receiver recruit (Justin Shorter) both transferring out because they couldn’t get on the field. The development of a deep stable of running backs is the key here, led by Journey Brown, who might be the best back in the conference. He didn’t do much in his first season and a half, getting 8 carries in 2018, and only going over 6 carries in a game once. The first game he saw his workload increase, he averaged just 3.8 ypc on 12 carries against Michigan State. But over November, and through the Cotton Bowl, Brown took off, with four 100 yard games over Penn State’s final five. His 6.9 ypc wound up leading all Big Ten backs who averaged at least 10 carries a game, 4th nationally. The next step is whether the true junior can up his carries to 200+. Maybe he won’t have to, with Noah Cain and Devyn Ford combining for 737 yards on 136 carries (5.41 ypc) as true freshman, with another pair of 4* recruits joining the team in Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes. They may look to play Holmes in the K.J. Hamler role though, although Hamler was much more of a receiver in high school than Holmes was. Holmes is an early enrollee, listed as a running back on Penn State’s spring roster, but he’s a 5’11”, 175 pound burner, who just needs the ball in his hands. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him fill that returner/slot role. Particularly considering that for as deep as Penn State is at running back, receiver...not so much. Really, with Sean Clifford back at quarterback, Pat Friermuth, potentially the best tight end in the nation, back, and now joined by Theo Johnson, a top 5 tight end recruit; and two All-Big Ten linemen back, receiver is truly the only question mark on the Penn State offense. Behind the departed Hamler, and Friermuth, a tight end, the top returning receiver is Jahad Dotson, with just 488 yards on 27 receptions. Behind him, going down the list,...graduated, transferred, running back, transferred, before we land on Daniel George, the likely #2 receiver, who had 9 receptions last year, never more than 2 in a game, in mop up duty. Hence my skepticism that Holmes sticks at running back. The part that makes this interesting is that Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarocca, who diced up the Penn State secondary with the routes he utilized his receivers for, was hired away by the enemy. The top end of the defense is as good as any in the country, with Micah Parsons winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. The problem is while the Nittany Lions have All-American candidates at all three levels, they did also lose 7 starters. The issue with Penn State’s defense is not finding guys to elevate from role players to stars, but finding complimentary pieces to fill the roles around the established stars. The program recruits at a level that it shouldn’t be a problem.
| KEY PLAYERS |
QB | Sean Clifford, Junior |
TE | Pat Friermuth, Junior |
T | Will Fries, Senior |
| . |
DE | Shaka Toney, Senior |
LB | Micah Parsons, Junior |
CB | Tariq Castro-Fields, Senior |